Cue Bid - Slam Seeking

Slam Seeking

Once a trump suit has been agreed and the bidding cannot die below the game level (e.g. 1♥–3♥, or ... 2♥–3♥, or 1♥–1♠; 3♠), any subsequent bid of a suit other than the trump suit is a cue bid showing first round control of that suit, i.e. the ace or a void.

Passing a suit that could be bid tends to deny holding first-round control in that suit. Bids of suits already bid show second-round control. Returning to the trump suit shows a lack of interest in slam or not having anything else to bid. For example:

South has shown 16-18 total points, while North's hand is largely unknown. North's bid of 4♣ is a cue-bid showing first-round control of clubs and an interest in slam. After South's bid of 4♦ North bids 4♥, an apparent signoff. It may well be that North wants to bid a slam, but has two fast losers in the spade suit. After South bids 4♠ showing control of the spade suit, North employs the Blackwood convention to proceed further.

The main disadvantage of both Blackwood and Gerber is that they give little information about voids, which can be as powerful as aces under certain circumstances. Cue bidding is designed to pass information on "first round control" i.e. an ace or a void.

In the "Italian" system of slam cue-bidding, the cheapest suit is always bid first. Thus, in the example above North's bid of 4♣ would deny control of spades, and therefore South would only proceed if he had control of spades, which in this case his continuation of 4♦ instead of a signoff of 4♥ would promise. Often, Italian cue bids only promise 2nd round control (a king or a singleton).